Non-refilling attachment for bottles.



No. 870,932- PATENTED NOV. 12, 1907.

' E. J. CLAYTON.

NON-REFILLING ATTACHMENT FOR BOTTLES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 6, 1907.

EDWIN J. CLAYTON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

NON-REFILLIN G ATTACHMENT FOR BOTTLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 12, 1907.

Application filed April 6. 1907- Serial No. 366,768.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN J. CLAYTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania,

' have invented a certain new and useful Non-Refilling Attachment. for Bottles, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to attachments for bottles by means of which bottles are rendered non-refillable, so that while the bottles to which the attachments are applied may be easily emptied by pouring out the contents in the usual way, they cannot afterwards be refilled without destroying the attachment or its identity, thus enabling the purchaser of any portion of the contents of the bottle to know with certainty whether or not the samehas been tampered with. In this way not only is the purchaser or consumer assured of getting what he desires, but the producer is also protected in getting his goods to the purchasing public and consumer.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement herein fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:-Figure 1 is a per spective view of the attachment of this invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the neck of a bottle showing the attachment in place therein. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through the attachment on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Under the preferred embodiment of this invention a bottle having a straight neck of uniform size throughoutits whole length is used so that after the bottle has been filled with liquid, the attachment hereinafter described may be introduced through the mouth of the bottle and pressed by a suitable implement down into the lower part of the neck in the position illustrated in the drawings, wherein a neck of the character described is shown and designated 1.

The attachment embodies a combined valve seat and retainer composed of two pieces, a circular body or annulus 2 of some stiff material such as metal or hard rubber, and a flexible or resilient ring 3 which encircles the valve seat formed by the annulus or circular body 2. Preferably the body 2 has a grooved periphery as shown at 4 thereby forming what may be termed upper and lower flanges 5 and 6. The ring 3 acts as a retainer for holding the attachment as a whole securely in the neck of the bottle in the manner indicated in Fig. 2. A ball valve 7 sets on the valve seat and cooperates therewith to cut off the fiow of liquid when the bottle is not inverted to pour out the contents thereof. At the same time the valve readily unseats itself when the bottle is inverted and permits the contents to be readily poured out.

To hold the valve in place and insure the proper operation thereof, a cage is connected with the combinedvalve seat and retainer, the said cage comprising the cage bars 8 and a cap 9 arranged at a suitable distance from the seat to admit of the necessary play of the valve in unseating. This cap is preferably concavoconvex with the convex side uppermost and the diameter of the cap is slightly less than the internal size of the bottle neck so that a tubular instrument may be used to press the attachment into place, the applied pressure being thereby directed against the retainer ring 3 thus carrying the attachment into place without in any way injuring the same. To facilitate the outflow of the liquid, the cap is perforated as shown at 10 and this is preferably done by punching portions of the cap upward without removing any of the material thereof, thus leaving protecting overhanging lips which cover the openings and prevent a piece of wire or other implement from being inserted in the openings in an attempt to extract the attachment.

The bars 8 project across or partly across the periphcry of the body or annulus 2 and are received in notches 11 provided therefor in the upper flange 5, while the elastic ring or retainer 3 binds said bars in place, thus holding all parts of the attachment togethcr. The bars 8 may be in the form of wickets with the central connecting portions thereof extending diametrically across the lower side of the cap 9 and united thereto by solder or in any convenient manner, as may be preferred. The device as a whole is preferably made very light and fragile so that any attempt to remove the same from the bottle will re sult in the destruction or mutilation of the attachment to an extent which will be readily observable by any one. The only way in which the bottle can be refilled is by removing the attachment and thereby destroying it, and, after then refilling the bottle, putting a new attachment of the same kind into the neck of the bottle by an instrument made especially for the purpose. Therefore, after the bottle has been emptied, it must either be thrown away or returned to the manufacturer of the goods to be refilled.

1. A non-refilling attachment for bottles embodying a valve seat, a valve cage, a valve cooperating with said seat and mounted in the cage, and a flexible ring encircling the valve seat and serving to hold the cage and seat together and also serving as a retainer for holding the device as periphery of said ring, a flexible band encircling the ring a whole in the bottle neck. and the projecting ends of the cage bars, and a valve c0- 2. A non-refilling attachment for bottles embodying a operating with said ring and mounted within the cage.

combined valve seat and retainer, a valve cage connected In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of 5 with said seat and Comprising a cap having perforations two Witnesses.

and overl ing projections, and a valve coo eratin with said seat ind mounted within the cage. p D EDWIN CLAYTON 3. A non-refilling attachment for bottles embodying a Witnesses:

ring of concavo-convex shape in cross section, a valve cage REXFORD M. SMITH,

10 having the bars thereof projecting across the concaved CHAS. E. RIORDON. 

